On the Web Since 1999

December 30, 2004

We started off with a small goal… to see every single standing ballpark in the world. - Eric and Wendy Pastore.

Yesterday, a poster at the Washington Nationals board at Dugout Chatter passed along a link to a site I had never seen before. Digital Ballparks, an “online digital baseball museum, ” is definitely worth checking out.

Of particular interest to me was their rare photos of the Polo Grounds (courtesy of Doak Ewing and RARE Sportsfilms INC., from the DVD Summer of 1957). The third photograph in their series of 23 shots is a photograph of a NY GIANTS metal sign that sat on top of the clubhouse behind the centerfield bleachers. I believe it is the same one that was used this past summer during pre-game ceremonies at SBC Park. On the evening of Saturday, July 31 (Cardinals), the Giants commemorated the 50th anniversary of the 1954 team's World Series title. 18 members of the squad (plus Daryl Spencer who was in the Army in ‘54) were honored.

I wasn’t at the game but learned about the event and the sign in the latest issue of FOREVER GIANTS, The Official Newsletter of the San Francisco Giants Alumni. The article includes a picture of the team standing behind the sign on the infield. The Giants recently acquired the "structure of 10-foot-tall gold-painted metal letters spelling the word GIANTS" and will integrate it into SBC Park.

As I was browsing through this website, and thinking about the Polo Grounds, a place I never visited, I was reminded of a trip my family took to New York City in 1964. We drove from North Carolina to visit my Mom’s relatives in New Jersey and see the World's Fair. For a kid of seven who had been out of the county a few times but not the state, this was an unbelievably exciting trip.

I don’t remember a lot about that visit to the land of skyscrapers, but I do recall the sight of Shea Stadium at night. In later years, I would reflect back on our trip and wish that somehow our itinerary could have included the Polo Grounds.

But that would have been too late. We went during the summer when me and my siblings were out of school. The Polo Grounds had been demolished in April.

Anyway, great job Eric and Wendy and thanks for your on going project. And if anyone knows where the Giants have planted or plan to put that sign, please let me know.

December 28, 2004

We get mail.

Some time ago I found a website where the guy was compiling all the box
scores for all major league games ever played. At the time, he had gotten
them all back to somewhere in the 1960s and was working on going back from
there.

I've been looking, but can't find that website. Do you have any idea what it might be? Was hoping to find a link from your page, but you don't seem to have it.

December 13, 2004

Yesterday morning I hopped on-line and caught up on the Giants news. I visited a handful of the usual sites, including The San Francisco Chronicle, ESPN and several Giants’ blogs. Afterwards, I began to think about the way I used to stay in touch with the Giants when I was a kid growing up in North Carolina. This was the mid to late 60s. Keeping up with baseball meant reading the morning and afternoon editions of the Greensboro Daily News

The most popular source of news for many baseball fans during this time was The Sporting News. I started buying “The Baseball Bible” off the newsstands in 1978, my first year in the Air Force. I remember sitting in my dormitory room and devouring all the stats, feature articles and news like a hungry lumberjack.

Realizing how much fun it would be to go back in time and see what I had missed in my first years as a follower of the orange and black, I decided to take a look at The Sporting News coverage of one of the Giants Hot Stove seasons. Using Paper of Record, I looked at TSN coverage of the Giants from November 1969 to March 1970.

Here’s a recap.

The Sporting News, published weekly, costs 50 cents. A typical issue was 40 to 50 pages. Coverage was given of the big four pro sports, plus college football and hoops, auto racing and golf.

The Giants’ articles during this time were written by Pat Frizzell. In mid-November, skipper Clyde King told Frizzell the team’s most pressing needs were at third and behind the plate. Jim Davenport, a staple at the hot spot and in the hole since 1958, was 35. Jim Ray Hart had a shoulder injury that wasn’t healing up properly. Due to injuries and illnesses, San Francisco had used four different catchers (Dick Dietz, Jack Hiatt, Bob Barton and John Stephenson) in ‘69.

In the outfield, Willie Mays (38) was an oldie but still goodie and Bobby Bonds was the rising star. Leftfield was a concern. A healthy Hart would have meant a Murderer’s Row outfield. But in ’69, the beefy slugger from Hookerton, North Carolina played in just 71 games (68 OF, 3 3B 129 OPS+). Ken Henderson had been the primary LF with (111 games, 81 OPS+). Frizzell noted the Giants used six different players at that position in the last 10 days of the ’69 season.

King had a busy off-season. He flew to Japan for a series of clinics in Tokyo and went on a scouting trip to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republican and Venezuela.

On November 29, the senior circuit Gold Gloves were announced. Mays, for the first time since the awards were given out, was not selected. The picks were Parker, Millan, Boyer, Kessinger, Clemente, Flood, Rose, Bench and Gibson. In the same issue, Frizzell wrote, “King is certain the Giants can make some helpful trades at the winter meetings in Florida.” Normally, those deals would have been made by long time GM Chub Feeney. But he had just been named President of the National League so owner Horace Stoneham took over the duties. After selecting catcher Mike Sadek in the Rule V draft on December 1, the Giants long time owner consummated three trades.

December 5, 1969

Ron Herbel, Bob Barton, and Bobby Etheridge went to the San Diego Padres for Frank Reberger.

December 12, 1969

Ray Sadecki and Dave Marshall went to the New York Mets for Bob Heise and Jim Gosger.

Bobby Bolin to the Milwaukee Brewers for Steve Whitaker and Dick Simpson.

After seeing football, basketball and hockey dominate the cover spot, baseball fans were delighted to get the February 28, Spring Training issue. Baseball was back where it belonged, on the prominent front pages of the publication. Frizzell figured that Willie McCovey, Ron Hunt, Tito Fuentes and Dick Dietz were safe with their jobs. Alan Gallagher was mentioned as a hopeful at third. Heise and Mason would be the backup infielders. In the outfield, it looked like another season of Bonds, Mays and the H platoon in left. Whitaker and a young George Foster were back up hopes. Burda was slotted to pinch hit.

Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry and Mike McCormick were the certain first three starters. With Bolin, Sadecki and Herbel gone, Robertson and Bryant were hopefuls to fill out the rotation. Reberger would help out in the pen and was also mentioned as a possible starter.

The March 7th and subsequent issues brought the intriguing story of the Giants trip to Japan. Frizzell noted that all 40 players on the roster would make the flight over and that it was the first ever trip to land of the rising sun by a major league club before the beginning of the season. (Chuck Nan has an excellent article on this story in the 2004 All-Star issue of Elysian Fields Quarterly). He also wrote that Stoneham had inked everyone except Marichal.

In other issues throughout the Hot Stove season, Frizzell wrote about other topics such as McCovey’s great MVP season, a ticket price increase, ($3.50 to $4 for box seats and $3 to $3.50 for reserved), plans for the installation of synthetic turf and increased capacity at Candlestick (45,000 to 60,000), Gaylord Perry’s winter job as a car salesman and the Giants Booster Club (1400 Members). Each weekly article was accompanied by a large photograph and most of the time, a concluding summary called “Giant Jottings.”

March brought the return of the coveted box scores. Then came the much anticipated picks for the upcoming season. The experts in Vegas peered into their crystal balls and saw orange and red birds flying high in October. The Giants were listed as 5-1 odds for the pennant. TSN tabbed them for yet another second place finish. Frizzell had reservations about the pitching and noted, “Second the past five seasons, the Giants may have to battle to finish that high this time.”

Concluding Thoughts:

1970 Giants broke their string of five straight second place finishes but it was in the wrong direction. With an 86 and 76 record, their worse since 1961, they finished third. Helped by a league leading on-base percentage of 347, they led the league in runs. Dietz became the regular receiver and had his best season by far with an OPS+ of 153. McCovey 182 OPS+, Mays 140, Bonds 135, Henderson 130 and Hunt 110 each contributed.

Gaylord Perry had a very good season (3.20 ERA) but the team ERA of 5.10 was last in the N.L. Mike McCormick hit a wall and was relegated to the pen. Marichal had a penicillin-induced spring from hell and suffered through his worse year since 1961. King gave Reberger some early starts but the tall ex-Padre never got it going. He pitched in 152 innings with a 5.57 ERA. Desperate for help, the Giants brought Skip Pitlock up from the farm and gave him 15 starts (4.66 ERA).

The somewhat good news for San Francisco was their 67 and 53 record under new skipper Charlie Fox. The bad news was their slow start under King. After the 42nd game, Stoneham gave him his marching orders.

I probably read about the firing in the paper the following day. Today, the latest news is a remote or mouse click away.

December 11, 2004

The last time the Giants thought about acquiring a player who had 70 stolen bases in one season, the query crashed their mainframe. In its dying digital breath, the motherboard asked to speak to Mel Ott and the ’47 Giants.

Carlos Beltran would be a nice early Christmas present. Then again, it’s said that over 50% of Americans won’t pay off their credit cards on time this holiday season.

Finley would have met our needs but not much in the Heart Department for me. Too much time with the enemies. Giant killer.

One of the great things about the return of major league baseball to Washington is the passion it is rekindling in the fans who remember when big league and professional baseball was played in our nation’s capital. Washington Times sportswriter David Elfin fell in love with the Senators in 1966. Like many Washingtonians, he was heartbroken when they left town in 1971. Now that major league baseball is on its way back, fans, old and new, will want to brush up on their knowledge of Washington baseball.

Elfin’s 112-page book is the ticket. In addition to the trivia, there are pictures and bios on greats like Walter Johnson, Josh Gibson, Clark Griffith, Goose Goslin, Joe Cronin, Buck Leonard, Mickey Vernon and Frank Howard.

I have two favorite parts of this book. One is Elfin’s selections for Washington’s All-Time Team. I'm not an expert on Washington baseball, but I know one thing. His battery of Walter Johnson and Josh Gibson is a no-brainer.

The other is the bio on Howard. My first big league game was at RFK. "Hondo" clobbered one and the home team beat Cleveland.

After his first two years with the Senators in ’65 and ’66, the much beloved slugger blitzed American League pitching in the next four seasons (Adjusted OPS of 154, 172, 180, 173). Then came the final season.

Elfin:

“Appropriately, Howard hit the Senators' last homer in the RFK finale on September 30, 1971. After crossing the plate, he tipped his hat, blew kisses to the fans and finally tossed his batting helmet into the stands before heading into the dugout to cry.”

December 06, 2004

Writers and fans are suggesting that an asterisk be placed beside Barry Bonds name in the record books.

Here is some input on that subject from Steve Gietschier of The Sporting News (From today's SABR-L).

"As the person responsible for compiling and editing the Sporting News Complete Baseball Record Book, I can say that we will not be adding asterisks to Barry Bonds' records or anyone else's. We did not put an asterisk next to Roger Maris's name for hitting his 61 home runs in a 162-game season, nor did we put an asterisk next to all the records made before 1947 to indicate that they had been achieved without the players having to test themselves against African American players.

I have discussed this question with our editor and my boss, John Rawlings, and we are in agreement. Baseball has had its highs and its lows. The records are the records. We will publish the numbers. Others can interpret them as they see fit.”

I agree with Steve but I have to say I am disappointed in Barry. He has talent, motivation and his awesome workout regime. I just don’t understand why he took those substances.

Baseball Library has a bio, including a note about the day Danning hit for the cycle.

June 15, 1940: Harry Danning hits for the cycle, as the Giants beat visiting Pittsburgh. Danning's home run is an inside-the-park hit that lands 460 feet on the fly in front of the Giants' clubhouse. It lodges behind the Eddie Grant memorial, and CF Vince DiMaggio cannot extricate the ball in time. Danning is the last player this century to include an IPHR in his cycle. The Giants win 12-1, their 8th straight win.

December 03, 2004

“The National Endowment for the Humanities has announced a massive project with the Library of Congress -- the National Digital Newspaper Program. This program will digitize tens of millions of historical newspaper pages and make them available online. The available content will be based at the Library of Congress and will be made available for free."

F.X. Flinn provided the news on the second item. SABR has formed an internet subcommittee to take on a similar project. The Sporting Life will be one of the first research materials to be made available. Samples are available at the SABR site (Lending Library).

Already fully digitilized is The Sporting News, available by fee at paperofrecord.